The purpose of The Christian Working Woman is to equip and encourage Christians in the workplace to love Christ more, to live their daily lives by biblical principles, and to go to their jobs as ambassadors for Jesus Christ. For more information on our ministry go to: www.christianworkingwoman.org.

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Balancing Our Energy Checkbooks Part II

In our previous
blog post we looked at what gives us energy and now I’d like to look at the
things which drain our energy. First,
there are the inescapable drains on our energy, such as getting up in the
morning! Children, mates, family,
housework, jobs. But many times we
expend energy, even in these areas, unnecessarily. Let's identify a few of the foolish things
that often drain our strength:

1. Our
strength is used up when we try to do more than we can do.

God has not
called us to be all things to all people.

Jesus was
careful where He went to minister. He
didn't try to go to every city; He didn't heal every sick person; He didn't
preach to everyone on the face of the earth.
Yet He could say at the end of a very short three year ministry that He
had accomplished what His father had sent Him to do.

2. Our
strength is used up when we have too much "stuff."

Did you know
that the more you have, the more energy it takes out of you? Cleaned your closet out lately? Might be a good idea. A home or apartment full of valued
"treasures" is a real drainer of energy. Now I'm not suggesting we can't have things
that we enjoy, but the question is, do you enjoy them or are they just sapping
your time and energy?

3. Our
strength is used up when we have money problems.

When our
finances are a constant problem, it unquestionably drains our strength. Credit cards can be our downfall. Maybe some of us need to get on a budget and
stop this drain on our lives.

4. Our
strength is used up when we fill our minds with junk.

What are you
allowing into your mind? If it's lots of
junk, maybe not evil but just junk, then you need to put a screen on your
mind. That includes social media,
television, music, reading material, conversations—any input into your
mind. The more you clean it up and get
rid of the junk, the more emotional and spiritual energy you'll have for things
that are important.

5. Our
strength is used up when our lives are not disciplined.

Proverbs says
that we die from lack of discipline, and I believe with all my heart that many
of us are drained of energy because we refuse needed discipline in our
lives. When you get the discipline going
the way the Lord wants you to, it's amazing how energized you start to
feel. The good feelings that come from
accomplishment energize us for more accomplishments.

What I'd like
to suggest is that you take a few minutes to list where your energy comes from
and where it goes. Make a balance sheet,
if you will, showing the assets and liabilities. Then take a look and see where you are out of
balance.

You may well
discover that you're out of balance. And
that could be because you don't put enough in, or you take too much out. It could be you put the wrong things in and
spend your energy in the wrong ways.

It may mean you
have to disappoint some people, or make some changes in your life-style in
order to use your energy more wisely. We
are called to be servants, but we can't serve very effectively if we're out of
balance.